ANN ARBOR, Mich., Nov. 22 -- They provided a winter and summer of delicious memories for Ohio State loyalists, but the images of that scintillating Rose Bowl comeback against Arizona State have since developed a nefarious nature.

Top-ranked Michigan tormented the No. 4 Buckeyes with it in a 20-14 escape, as did then-No. 2 Penn State earlier this season in OSU's only previous defeat.

Both times, needing to duplicate that fairy-tale finish from Pasadena in the waning seconds, the Buckeyes instead rolled snake eyes.

"Before this game, we watched their Rose Bowl drive against Arizona State and we said, `It's going to come down to this," said Michigan safety Marcus Ray, part of the crowd that knocked down Joe Germaine's fourth-down pass to David Boston from the OSU 9-yard line with 42 seconds left.

That incompletion stopped a pulsating Ohio State comeback from a 20-0 third-quarter lead that Michigan built largely upon the excellence of do-it-all cornerback Charles Woodson and the failures of OSU's do-it-all-wrong quarterback Stanley Jackson.

"We really shot ourselves in the foot a few times and I probably had the biggest gun out there," said Jackson, who on successive passes in the third quarter threw an interception to Woodson from the Michigan 7 and presented Andre Weathers a gift interception he took 43 yards for the Wolverines' last score. "There are no excuses for that. I take full responsibility for this loss."

Likewise, Woodson could take almost full credit for the Wolverines' ascent to 11-0 overall and their first Rose Bowl in five years.

Had the Buckeyes (10-2) triumphed, they would have been co-Big Ten champions and probably would have returned to Pasadena as the nation's No.2-ranked team, because No.2 Florida State lost at Florida later yesterday, 32-29.

Woodson, the sure-fire Thorpe Award winner and possible Heisman Trophy winner, backed up the bravado of his pregame gabfest with Boston by catching a 37-yard pass to set up Michigan's only offensive touchdown and returning a punt 78 yards for another score.

"I think it's obvious he's the best player in America," Wolverines quarterback Brian Griese said of Woodson. "What he did today was unbelievable."

Despite Woodson's wide-ranging talents, despite a Jackson fumble to torpedo a drive to the Wolverines' 33 in the first quarter, and despite the relentless pressure of Michigan's defensive line, OSU was still positioned to win in the fourth quarter.

"I thought of the Rose Bowl," said linebacker Jerry Rudzinski, whose recovery of a Griese fumble at the Wolverines' 2-yard line two minutes into the final period set up the Pepe Pearson touchdown that brought the Buckeyes within 20-14. "The situation seemed so similar."

Sure it did, for Ohio State not only faced it against Arizona State in Pasadena, it saw the same thing at Penn State six weeks ago.

This time, Germaine had a timeout and 1:35 to negotiate the 84 yards separating OSU from the Michigan end zone and a share of the conference championship.

But, with Germaine's teammates hoping for the same rescue he authored against Arizona State, Michigan proved as immovable as Penn State had in denying the Buckeyes on their attempt to drive for the winning score in the last three minutes.

"I thought we had a chance," said Ohio State coach John Cooper, now 1-8-1 against the Wolverines and probably bound for his fourth Citrus Bowl appearance in six seasons. "I thought we were going to win until that fourth-down pass fell incomplete."

Envisioning that prospect appeared ludicrous until Germaine cut into the 20-0 deficit with a 56-yard touchdown pass that Boston juggled twice, then grabbed as he backed into the end zone and jawboned a beaten Woodson at 4:50 of the third quarter.

Dan Stultz converted the extra point, from 35 yards after Boston was penalized for taunting, to make it 20-7 -- a huge point given the conversion Michigan missed after Woodson's punt return.

Wolverines tailback Anthony Thomas, subbing for an injured Chris Howard, fumbled to OSU at midfield with 1:20 left in the third quarter, but a sack of Germaine on first down forced a punt.

Then the Buckeyes' defense rose even higher, getting Griese to fumble while being bulldogged by Gary Berry.

Rudzinski recovered at the Michigan 2 and Pepe Pearson carried across on the next play.

Suddenly, in the span of 6:42, the Buckeyes had pulled within a touchdown and a conversion of victory.

The Wolverines, except for Woodson's big reception in the second quarter, had been stuck in neutral all day.

Michigan would gain only 189 offensive yards, less than half its season's average, but already had enough points for its marauding defense to protect.

"Our defense won the game for us," head coach Lloyd Carr said. "In the fourth quarter, I kept saying, `Let's just punt the ball so we can play defense."

That's pretty much what Michigan did, giving it back to the Buckeyes at their own 27 with 9:58 left, their own 33 with 4:13 to play and their own 16 with 1:35.

The Wolverines torpedoed every threat with a sack or a tackle behind the line, with none bigger than Glen Steele's back-to-back takedowns of Germaine on the second of OSU's final three possessions.

"They blitz quite a bit, and they have strong enough defensive backs that they can blitz quite a bit," Cooper said.

Woodson, of course, is the headliner in the Wolverines' secondary, but it wasn't he alone who limited Boston to three catches or Germaine, the nation's second-ranked passer, to a 5-of-17, 84-yard performance.

"Boston just called one man out, but we have four DBs back there," Weathers said. "You take that as an insult."

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